Get $500 if you rent out your apartment through Jumppost.com.
I can't really tell if it will work or not. Basically the premise is - let's get rid of brokers!
While I like that idea, I just don't know if I want to become my own broker. I tried out this site last year when I wanted to move into a better apartment and needed to break my lease. I ended up posting my apartment and then had to play broker by scheduling appointments to show the place to prospective tenants. Plus sell the place to them.
- I hated scheduling the meetings. Plus - how do you know if it's a psycho coming over? I always kept my door open and told my neighbors
- I had to kind of lie to them and say the apartment was great, when it really wasn't. After all, the whole point was I wanted out.
- I don't even think my scumbag landlord would have gone for the deal anyhow!
Sometimes you don't want to do the dirty work. And that's when a broker comes in handy. Plus for people looking for an apartment, honestly the site just doesn't have enough inventory for it to really be useful.
Also I have to remind myself -landlords and brokers are very intertwined. When the middleman is in bed with the boss, it's kind of hard to get rid of them.